It Is A Far Far Better Thing That Marcus Does
by redcandle
Summary: Marcus tells Katie to leave him alone and quickly regrets it. Fluff. MarcusKatie.


"It Is A Far Far Better Thing That Marcus Does" by Redcandle17

Disclaimer: All recognizable characters and elements from the Harry Potter series belong to J.K. Rowling. No copyright infringement is intended.

It was his own fault. She'd been following him on his way to the Quidditch locker rooms again, trying to talk to him and being irritating in general. Then she'd tried to kiss him – again – and he'd told her to go get Diggory in trouble instead.

Seemingly stung, she'd slinked away, pouting.

She didn't trail him in the corridors, or talk to him, or even send him notes the next few days. He actually begun to miss her a bit. The attention was flattering, and had she been even a year older, Marcus would have snogged her senseless a long time ago.

He resolved to be a mite nicer to her when she came around again. Perhaps he'd even let her take his Nimbus 2001 for a brief fly if she happened to loiter around after his Quidditch practice like she sometimes did.

Then he saw her talking to Cedric Diggory.

It was during mid-morning break. Johnson and Spinnet were standing several yards away, grinning broadly. Diggory's pack of Hufflepuffs huddled nearby, giving the Gryffindor girls nasty looks. Bell was standing closer to Diggory than people usually did in civil conversations and twirling a strand of hair around one of her fingers as she smiled at whatever Diggory said.

Marcus stood watching them for several minutes, but the conversation showed no signs of ending. Someone walked by, temporarily blocking his view of Bell and Diggory, and snapping him out of the trance he'd fallen into.

Today was Thursday. Thursday meant Charms, at which Wood was terrible. Marcus took one last look at the Bell/Diggory spectacle then stormed into the castle to find Wood. He found him sitting outside the Charms classroom, biting his lip and swishing his wand nervously.

"Did you know your chaser is consorting with your enemy!" he demanded, looming over Wood.

Wood shot to his feet. "What! Which one? Where?"

"The little blonde one's slobbering all over Diggory out in the courtyard," Marcus said. "If I'd lost to Hufflepuff –" he paused to smirk, "and then I found out one of my players was getting chummy with Hufflepuff's captain, I'd be suspicious."

He hadn't quite finished speaking when Wood raced past him. Marcus nodded to himself in a self-congratulatory manner. That should take care of Bell and Diggory.

However, to his shock, he saw Bell conversing with Diggory again the next day. Marcus snarled in disgust. Typical Wood; the idiot couldn't even keep his players in line. He should have known better than to leave anything to a Gryffindor male. He'd just have to take matters into his own hands.

Later that day, he waited in the corridor outside the Great Hall and snatched Bell into an alcove as she walked by.

"Diggory's gay," he informed her. "It's pointless to continue wasting your time on him. He's not going to snog you, and if he did, he'd be thinking about…about Wood anyway!"

"He is not!"

"Do you see the way he hugs his friends? Normal guys don't do that, not unless they're pummeling them on the back."

Bell sighed and slummed against the wall. "So, Oliver doesn't recognize girls as anything other than potential Quidditch players, Cedric's gay, and you're not interested. Who's a girl supposed to fancy?"

Marcus struggled to think of an appropriate target for her underaged affection. "Weasley," he said finally.

"Which one?"

"The Head Boy. Percy, I think."

Bell looked unimpressed. "I don't think so. I need a Quidditch player." She snapped her fingers suddenly. "Roger Davies," she exclaimed.

Davies. Mediocre Quidditch player, but decent looking enough to have a different girl each week.

"No!" Marcus yelled.

"No," he continued more calmly, "Davies is…" She wouldn't believe him if he said Davies was gay, and she wouldn't care if he said he was muggleborn. Could he curse Davies with a severe and uncurable case of acne without being detected?

"He's perfect," Bell said excitedly. "He's tall and he has gorgeous eyes and he has nicer arms than anyone except you, your teammates, and Oliver. And he's really smart too. If Cedric isn't Head Boy their year, it'll be him. Plus…"

"No," Marcus said firmly. "Not Davies. He's too fickle. He'll lose interest before he's even memorized your name."

"Well, then…"

"It'll have to be me," he interrupted. "I'll take the job since there aren't any other suitable candidates."

Bell looked stunned.

"Here are the rules: I'll let you follow me without telling you to go away, and I won't glare at you when you stare at me. In return, I'll call you Katie instead of Bell."

"That doesn't seem like much. Do I get to touch you? Part of the fun of a crush is anticipating the physical stuff."

Physical stuff! She was fourteen! "I'll let you hug me once a month."

"I don't know," she said. "At least with Davies I'm guaranteed a bit of snogging."

The girl really did want to get him sent to Azkaban. He could easily imagine it: Sirius Black finally being captured, Marcus being thrown in the same cell with him, Black trying to get friendly…No.

"I'll walk around the lake with you once a month – and I'll hold your hand once we're out of sight of the castle."

"No kissing?"

"Absolutely none." He thought of something else. "And when you hug me, your hands will only touch my shoulders, understand? And you won't stand too close."

"What about just one kiss the last day of school?"

Hmmm, he could agree to that. He didn't have to actually do it. "Okay. Do we have an agreement?"

"All right." She launched herself at him and squeezed him tightly. "I'm taking this month's hug now," she said needlessly.

Marcus pried her off him. "That's enough, Bel…Katie."

She smiled brightly before skipping away.

It couldn't have been, he told himself. She was a kid; she didn't have breasts, not that he could see. So he couldn't have felt any. And she must have a fever. It wasn't normal for people to feel so hot. Even through the layers of his robes and shirt, his skin felt like he'd been burned.

It was going to be a difficult year. But it could be worse, Marcus consoled himself. She could be taken advantage of by Davies. He was doing the right thing. He was practically a hero.

End


End file.
